Hong Kong, 15 Feb 2006 – Following the highly successful collaboration last April, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) announces its second annual project with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). Edo de Waart and HKPO Principal musicians will mentor over 40 students from the HKAPA, both in rehearsals and in individual coaching sessions, in preparation for a joint public concert conducted by Maestro de Waart, featuring the students on stage with the professionals. Sponsored by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, the concert, entitled Metamorphoses, will be held on 26 February at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

The joint HKPO-Academy orchestra will play three works: Beethoven's Symphony No.5, Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis and Elgar's Cello Concerto, in which cellist Xiong Yin, an advanced diploma in performing arts second year scholarship student, will be featured as the soloist.

To further highlight the project's mission of nurturing young musicians of Chinese origin, a special chamber item will be inserted in this orchestral concert. Pianist Colleen Lee Ka-ling and violinist Li Chuanyun, will join HKPO's First Associate Concertmaster Leung Kin-fung, Cello Principal Richard Bamping and Double Bass Principal Eddie Zong Xiaoqian in the variation movement from Schubert's famous Trout Quintet.

Edo de Waart, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts last July in recognition of his contribution to music internationally and his commitment to developing future generations of musicians in Hong Kong. Renowned as an “orchestra builder”, Edo de Waart has held such esteemed positions as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony, Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony.

Hailed from Shanghai five years ago, Xiong Yin is studying in her fifth year at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under the tutelage of Professor Ray Wang. Aged 20, she is already a prize winner in the fourth International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians.

Colleen was awarded Sixth Prize in the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in 2005 , the first Hong Kong pianist ever reached the final round of this prestigious competition. Born in Hong Kong, Colleen was trained under Eleanor Wong at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Since 2003 she has been studying at The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover on a scholarship.

Hailed by The Daily Camera as “a massive talent with astonishing dynamic and expressive range”, violinist Li Chuanyun is a winner of numerous prizes, including the First Prize in the Fifth Wieniawski International Youth Violin Competition at 11. Li. has collaborated with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev . He performs on a G.B. Guadagnini of Turin, Italy, c 1784 on extended loan from the Stradivari Society.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is rapidly emerging as Asia's leading orchestra, since internationally renowned Edo de Waart joined as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor in the 2004/05 Season. Throughout the last three decades, the Orchestra has grown into a formidable ensemble of Chinese and international talents, attracting world-class artists to perform on the same stage. Apart from giving over a hundred performances annually, many of which are highly anticipated events in the city ' s cultural calendar, it performs more than 70 free orchestral and chamber concerts for 70,000 primary and secondary school students a year. The Orchestra also joins hands with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to help nurture aspiring professionals.